CHAPTER 1: Live An Artful Life CHAPTER 2: Lifestyle, Happiness, and Wellness CHAPTER 3: Appreciation vs. Creation CHAPTER 4: The Beauty Creativity Brings Us CHAPTER 5: Your Creative Voice CHAPTER 6: Action, Process, and Fulfillment CHAPTER 7: Putting You In Your Artfulness - Emotion CHAPTER 8: Overcoming Obstacles CHAPTER 9: Being Resourceful, Problem Solving, Visual Awareness CHAPTER 10: Learn and Practice by Doodling CHAPTER 11: Artistic Productivity CHAPTER 12:Your Perception of Success CHAPTER 13: Improvement and Creative Longevity CHAPTER 14: Ageless Artistry! CHAPTER 15: Creating While Listening to Music or Books CHAPTER 16: Some Artful Ways to Get Started CHAPTER 17: Final Thoughts 

PARTIAL INTRODUCTION: 

IT WAS 1988. The movie Rain Man was a hit, the Dow Jones Industrial hovered around 2,000, and George Herbert Walker Bush was elected president. Oh, and I became a working artist. Thirty years later, I’m so happy that I had the foresight as a younger man to go for it. To have had the understanding that this is the actual play, not the rehearsal.

Perhaps the reminder had been of my father, who passed away in 1979 when both he and I were too young. He had already been gone more than a handful of years as I was transitioning to my career in art. I was left to learn on my own that life may bring you opportunity, but you must bring to that life the actions, decisions, and intentions it needs to make you whole. So, I decided to become an artist. I took action and intended on being successful. It wasn’t easy, but it was satisfying, as I had re-entered an inspirited life of self-expression and creativity, where my brain and hands would work as a team.

This book is a philosophical extension of the life I have been living ever since. One which was born out of my childhood love of imagination, and learning of its beneficial power to help the mind and body in many ways. Chief among them is with lowered stress through having acarefree attitude. You will notice that I did not say careful or careless. Being carefree allows for freedom, discovery, and happiness while still also being accountable for one’s actions, intentions, and responsibilities.

We live in a demanding, non-stop 24/7 world today. As if we are all a bunch of shooting stars—bright for a moment but headed for burnout. We focus on monetary needs and achievements, often with our noses planted into some device rather than paying attention to our family, friends, or, as you will come to find in this book, ourselves. Our inner creative voice sounds either like a suffocating whisper or a scream of starvation. Either way, we often ignore it while racing around trying to keep up, yet often in a deep rut.

If this sounds like you, then hello! I’m happy to meet you, and hopefully my words will offer a new or validating direction. At the very least, I hope you see options for and within yourself. I wrote this book over a reasonable period, but I didn’t want it to be about page count or wordiness. Time is important to us all, and I respect and appreciate yours!